Comment from Marks Sattin on rising financial services compensation

Comment on rising financial services compensation and a tough year ahead for HR departments

Dave Way, managing director of accountancy and finance recruiter Marks Sattin said: Accountancy and Finance professionals have borne the brunt of cutbacks from their employers. Through the downturn, they have been forced to be patient as job security became a greater concern than the level of compensation being offered. Now thats changing. Accountancy and finance professionals are in demand again and that means theyre able to start pushing for better packages.

Marks Sattins research shows that the number of counter-offers made to resigning accountants doubled last year and that the size of these offers tripled. This is obviously great news for the embattled workers across the profession, but for employers it creates a headache. Counter-offers were hugely expensive for employers in 2010 and look set to become even more so this year. Heading into 2011 it continues to be increasingly costly for employers to hold onto their most capable personnel, which means that HR departments will be faced with tough decisions about how much they can afford to pay to keep hold of their best talent.